David V. Lorenzo's Blog is now: www.careerintensity.com/blog

Yahoo Blog Search Due Out This Week

BusinessWeek Online is reporting the Yahoo Blog Search tool will be out this week. 

If this blog were a cable network we would have a big Breaking News banner and special music for this announcement.

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming….

CEO Blog Uh Oh

Tom has a post on The True Talk Blog about why some CEOs don’t blog.  Tom contends that certain CEOs might say embarrassing things or things that may send their stock price plummeting.

I agree with Tom.  I have met many CEOs that were not terrific with the public.  Being an executive is pressure-packed job and you do not want your fearless leader “venting” in a public forum.

That said – a blog can certainly be a great way to provide your employees and shareholders with the transparency they deserve. 

Blog Readership Doubles

Marketwatch is reporting that blog readership has doubled in the past year.  Here is the money quote:

Technology is making it easier to ignore mainstream media advertising. Instead, consumers are using Web logs, mobile messaging, comparison shopping Web sites, and word-of-mouth to make buying decisions, according to Forrester Research Inc.

Data released Tuesday by the firm reported 10% of consumers read blogs at least once a week, compared with 5% a year ago. Really Simple Syndication feeds (RSS) are used by 6%, compared to 2% in 2004.

"Technology has given consumers an option to tune businesses out, and tune each other in," said Chris Charron, a Forrester (FORR: news, chart, profile) vice president, in a statement. "On the flip side, technology has given businesses an opportunity to gain greater customer insights at a lower cost," by monitoring blogs and Web sites and message boards "to uncover consumer insight and accelerate the innovation of products, services, and design."

This is certainly not news to the readers of this blog.  We knew this was happening.  This trend will continue to grow.

Thanks to Steve Rubel for pointing us to this information.

Problogger – Pro Tip – Use Lists

Darren at Pro Blogger has a great tip that has worked well for me.  He gives us the advice to use lists in some posts to drive traffic to your blog.  Here are Darren’s 8 reasons why lists work.

1. Lists are Scannable - online readers are notoriously lazy. A list helps communicate a number of points quickly and easily

2. Lists keep posts succinct - there is something about a list that keeps you from rambling

3. Lists look ‘neat’ - I don’t know about you but when I surf onto a site that is full of messily formatted text - I don’t tend to stick around long. Lists on the other hand can be quite visually pleasing

4. Lists are easy to link to - most of the links to the link above simply summarize the list (giving the key points) - bloggers seem to like linking up in this manner

5. Lists can be comprehensive - Get the whole point in a few words
6. Lists are persuasive - if you want to mount a case for something quickly presenting numerous arguments in a list can be quite convincing

7. Lists can add to the ease of writing - I like writing in lists because they break down my thoughts into bite sized pieces which is good not only for readers but me as a writer as I consider how to express myself

8. Lists as Memes - I’m not quite sure how to describe this - but lists can start epidemics of ideas. For the above reasons (and others - bloggers seem to love linking to lists and as a result they have the ability to spread quickly

This is good stuff.  To read the entire post click here.

Dreading a Knock on Your Cube

There are over 10 million of us who blog about work or what we do.  That number is probably low.  Some people mention work in their blog regularly.  Heck – for some people work is their only blog subject.  A word to the wise – be careful. 

If you have a blog, I guarantee your boss reads it.  I am also willing to bet that your customers read it and your wife’s sister reads it.  Even if they don’t, you need to think this way. 

A good blog can help your career.  It allows you to demonstrate your knowledge and passion.  I know it’s tempting but don’t cross the line.  Don’t bash your boss, your customers or your spouse on your blog.  It’s just not smart.

Yahoo News has an interesting article about the value of blogging to your career.  Thanks to Steve Rubel for the link.

More Labor Day Spirit

Tom over at True Talk Blog decided to go with a Labor Day post today too.  There are only a few of us actually blogging today.

Tom makes some good points about labor and work ethic – but his “end of the summer/year thoughts" are a real downer.

Tom – go out and get some sun!  I’m sure going to. 

Back with more tomorrow.

Don’t Let the Title Fool You

Duncan has a great description of the blog adoption curve in his post titled “ The Demise of Geek Bloggers”.

I agree with all points.

Great Book and It’s Free

Seth’s e-book is now available FOR FREE.

It’s another must read from the marketing guru.

Go get it.   Click here.  There’s no excuse.

Vodcasting – I have seen the future

I’m currently working my way up to podcasting. As I was exploring the possibilities, I came across this article.  Since I am already working on developing digital video for another project, why not put up some video on demand?

It might not be a bad idea to put up a weekly VOD clip – less than five minutes in length – on some of my content.  It might be fun to develop some topics and see how they play in macro-video.

I’m going to think about this for a while.  If anyone has any ideas, send them my way.

E-mail: [email protected]  or post a comment.

Thanks again to Steve Rubel for the link.

The Domain Name Chase

If you want to snag a good domain name, read this now!

The information on this post is a little old but it is really informative.  I found it through Home Office Voice.